Have you been wondering what Jeremy and Tyler have been up to while the rest of Mystic Falls obsessed over how to kill Klaus?  We find out tonight!  Spoilers ahead!

In a twist, Alaric is being kept locked in the cellar of the Salvatore house until his alter ego reveals what he did with the last white ash stake.  Elena and Damon head to Denver to pick up Jeremy, who isn’t safe with Kol watching him.  Stefan is convinced that Elena has feelings for Damon and he wants her to figure them out on this trip.  Stefan stays behind to babysit Alaric.

Jeremy playing ball

Meanwhile, at the school, Rebekah has hijacked Caroline’s Decade Dance, changing the theme from the 70s to the 20s.  Caroline and Matt are using the dance as a distraction for Rebekah while Caroline has a rendezvous with Tyler.

Damon and Elena find Jeremy at baseball practice.  They want him to use his ghost whisperer powers to talk to Rose (remember her?) and find out who sired her since she sired Katherine and Katherine sired both Salvatore brothers.  Before they can get any information though, Kol arrives on the scene.  He has been posing as Jeremy’s friend, and Jeremy is more than surprised when Damon shatters a baseball bat, using it to stake Kol.  It’s not ash and it won’t last, so they take off for an out-of-the-way hotel. Rose appears to Jeremy (and looks awfully similar to Maggie from The Walking Dead) after Damon describes her death.

Rose appears

Caroline finds Tyler in the woods and they have a sexy reunion, and by that I mean they have sex.  Rebekah thinks Matt is up to something when he gives her a ride home from school, but also hints that she wants him to be her date at the Decade Dance. Rebekah’s sweet moment of flirtation is ended when she walks into the house and sees her mother Esther, who claims she is dying.

Rose tells the trio that she was sired by Mary Potter, not an Original. Klaus pays a visit to Stefan and Alaric. When Stefan reveals that they don’t know the location of the last stake, Klaus snaps Alaric’s neck.  MAN! Alaric can’t stay un-dead around these people!  He’s really wearing out that eternity ring. On that note, breaking poor Alaric’s neck is getting to be a bit of a joke, like Kenny on South Park.  Let’s move on from this, shall we, staff writers?

Esther tells Rebekah she’s been weakened by the break in the witch bloodline when Abby died. She clutches Rebekah’s hands and something seems to happen. Then she drops dead.

Tyler tells Caroline as they spoon that he came back to town because he feels different, but he won’t know if his sire bond is broken for real until he tests it. She tells Tyler about the problem with the Original bloodlines and that Damon doesn’t care whether or not he dies.

Tyler!

Elena and a smooth- and bare-chested Damon make eyes across the room as Jeremy sleeps. Elena asks him about the fantasy world that he made for Rose as she died, but he doesn’t like people to see the good in him because then they’ll expect more good from him.  He touches her hand and she runs out of the room, overcome with emotion.  When he follows her, she kisses him passionately…with tongue!  It’s the moment many of us have been waiting for!  Though I could go for some extended naked scenes. Just saying.  They are hard core macking when Jeremy interrupts – Rose has found Mary in Kansas.

Alaric awakens, but he is plain Alaric and not evil Alaric.  Frustrated, Alaric takes his ring off. He wants Stefan to try to kill him to scare the alter ego out of hiding. After a severe beating, evil Alaric finally shows up. He tells Stefan that the last stake is in the cave where no vampire can get it.  As Stefan makes plans to retrieve it, he runs into Rebekah and Klaus, who have heard everything. Rebekah takes Alaric to the cave to get the stake.

Damon and Elena head into Mary’s house, leaving Jeremy outside.  They find her staked to a wall, and Kol waiting for them. He claims that Mary was an Original groupie, and any one of them could be her sire. Kol beats Damon a bit and throws Elena around and leaves.  Damon heals himself, but when he tries to comfort Elena, she turns away.  He accuses her of depending on him to sabotage their relationship so she could go back to Stefan with a clean conscience.  This time, he says, he won’t make it easy on her.  She’ll have to make a decision.

Ghost Rose appears to Jeremy as the trio drive home.  She wants Damon and Elena to work out, because they change each other for the better.  At the Forbes home, Tyler finds the drawing Klaus made of Caroline and is upset that she kept it.  He leaves. It doesn’t look good for any of our couples in this episode!

Alaric gets the stake but keeps it out of Rebekah’s reach.  He offers a deal for his safety, that in exchange Rebekah won’t be the Original that dies.  In a huge reveal, Rebekah walks into the cave – it isn’t Rebekah, but in fact Esther, who is possessing Rebekah’s body. Bum bum bum! She tells Evil Alaric that they’re on the same side – she wants all her children to die.

This was a nicely rounded episode – a little romance, a little violence, and a big shocking turn of events to keep us coming back for more. Who do you think is Mary’s sire? I think it has to be Klaus, if only to keep the drama churning. I don’t think they would keep bringing up Tyler’s membership in his bloodline if it didn’t become a plot point later on.  It could be Rebekah – she’s only been possessed by Esther, not killed.  If it’s Elijah they’ll have to hunt him down, and there aren’t that many episodes left. It could also be Kol, which would make him an even more important character than “youngest Original brother.” I think I’ll let the plot unfold and see what happens next week.  What about you?

Did you miss the previous episode? Be sure to read our ‘The Vampire Diaries: The Murder of One’ recap to catch up.